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What is Allergy Rhinitis?

Your immune system can react to allergens.

Allergic rhinitis arises because your immune system reacts to an allergen, causing inflammation of the mucous lining of your respiratory system.

Hay fever is a type of allergic rhinitis, where the allergen appears in the form of pollen. Although the most effective treatment for allergic rhinitis is avoidance of the trigger, this is often not possible. However, home, herbal and conventional treatments have been developed and have shown to be helpful.

What causes allergic rhinitis?

Whenever a particle enters the body, the immune system assesses it and decides if it is a threat. If it decides it is harmless, no response is triggered; if it decides it is going to endanger the body, the immune system triggers a response to destroy it. It does this by causing inflammation of the mucous lining of the nasal passages and encourages secretion of thick, sticky mucus to trap the foreign particle.

However, the immune system sometimes mistakes harmless foreign bodies for dangerous ones. These are known as allergens. For example, pollen from trees and grass, ornamental flowers, house dust mites and flakes of dead skin from animals are common allergens giving rise to sinus congestion and allergic rhinitis.

How can herbs help?

If you can find out what triggers your allergic rhinitis, this is the first step towards finding an effective treatment. The trigger can be found from simply observing when symptoms occur, or through tests from your doctor. There are certain home, herbal and conventional treatments you can take to ease your symptoms.

If your allergies are caused by pets or dust mites it is important to wash your pet or bed sheets regularly. Unfortunately, dust is also top of the list. If your allergies are caused by airborne allergies such as pollen, washing your hands and clothes when you come indoors will help you to prevent the allergen spreading through your house.